More McCaffrey

Back when I didn't have this shitty little blog, I went on a months-long McCaffrey comments tirade. Just for kicks, check my Firedoglake bit from March '07:

I’ve said it before, McCaffrey is wildly inconsistent. His views and evaluations of US progress in Iraq change weekly. He’s called the surge “a fool’s errand.” He’s praised the hard work of contractors: “Without that contractor effort, this war would have ground to a halt two years ago”. Now it’s “We need to support the U.S. leadership team in Iraq for this one last effort to succeed.”

McCaffrey is a seriously conflicted individual in every sense of the phrase. It’s not surprising that a decorated Viet Nam vet wants one last push towards victory. It’s well documented that many hawks of that war (ex-soldiers and current politicians) are adamant that we don’t “lose” this one.

McCaffrey is also an NBC military analyst. He needs to express some criticism of US military strategy in Iraq to maintain credibility. He also feels it’s his duty to support the war effort not just as a retired US general but also as a businessman. It wouldn’t be prudent for him to be too critical of the Pentagon.

McCaffery is on the board of: Dyncorp International (supplies security personnel and police trainers in Iraq and Afghanistan), McNeil Technologies ($4.6 billion dollar Army contract thru a joint deal with Dyncorp for Iraq translation and and interpretation services), HNTB Federal Services (military engineering contractor), and The Wornick Company (provides meals-ready-to-eat AKA MREs to the military).

McCaffrey’s making a serious chunk of change from this war while appearing to play both sides of the fence. Barry would take a hit in the wallet if the Iraq war ended any time soon.

From Raw Story, August '07:

Can NBC give a disclaimer on this guy already? I've been saying this for ages: Barry McCaffrey is on the board of The Wornick Company (supplier of MRE's to the military) and McNeil Technologies (supplier of Intelligence, Security, Language "services" to the Federal Government). McNeil & Wornick are both wholly owned by Veritas Capital -- a $1 billion+ private equity firm. Veritas also owns just a few military & Federal contractors you may or may not have heard of: Dyncorp, Trawick & Assoc., Aeroflex, Vangent, Athena Innovative Solutions and Continental Electronics.

In other words, it's clearly in the best interest of McCaffrey (not to mention his primary employer Veritas) to keep the fear level high. This continues increased spending and the support thereof in The Great War for Oil.

Gotta get ready for my town Democratic committee Festivus fete. More later -- sobriety permitting.

-AF